ARTICLES ABOUT DETOUR BY DATE - PAGE 2

A Franklin County fire chief is blaming a bridge closure for delaying the fire company's response to a house fire. "That bridge that PennDOT (Pennsylvania Department of Transportation) decided to shut down on Rt. 16 made us take a detour and cost us at least 10 minutes in response. A fire doubles in size every two to four minutes," said Dusty Stoner, fire chief of Mercersburg Montgomery Peters and Warren Fire department. To respond to Thursday's 12:24 a.m. house fire at 11496 Fisher Drive in Montgomery Township, Stoner said MMP&W crews followed the six-mile detour traveling on Pa. 416 south to Welsh Run to Welsh Run Road until returning to Pa. 16. No injuries to the homeowners or firefighters were reported, Stoner said.

Hagerstown officials provided the following information about street closings for two projects on Monday: • Work crews from Brandenburg Industrial Service Co. will begin removing a generator from the former Washington County Hospital on East Antietam Street Monday at 7 a.m., weather permitting. A crane will be used to lift the generator onto a truck for transport, requiring the closure of East Antietam Street to vehicular and pedestrian traffic between King Street and South Cannon Avenue.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. -- Driving a car around the Waynesboro area this summer has been a challenge. So imagine driving a school bus. Or worse yet, imagine the task of coordinating several dozen school buses through construction zones and around detours. Welcome to Missie's world. Missie Baer, maintenance and transportation coordinator for the Waynesboro Area School District for the last five years, is busy this time of year as she makes sure that more than 3,300 students have rides to and from the district's schools, and St. Andrew Catholic School.

Weather permitting, beginning at 7 a.m. Monday, work crews from Craig Paving Inc. will begin milling, patching, and replacing the existing pavement on Arlington Avenue in Hagerstown. This work is being performed as part of the City's Pavement Preservation program. This work will require the closure of Arlington Avenue between Marshall Street and Florida Avenue. Vehicles approaching Arlington Avenue will be forced to detour around the work area via other city streets. Motorists approaching the work zone will encounter cones, barricades, detour signs, and other traffic control devices.

The City of Hagerstown provided the following information in an e-mailed release: CSX Transportation Inc. plans to remove and replace the existing railroad crossing on East Wilson Boulevard near South Potomac Street adjacent to the CVS Pharmacy. This work will involve removing all of the existing roadbed and cross-ties, and replacing them with new cross-ties and new concrete roadbed panels. This work will require the complete closure of Wilson Boulevard -- both eastbound and westbound lanes -- at the railroad crossing for approximately fiv days.

Editor's note: Millions of dollars worth of road projects are under way in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia and southcentral Pennsylvania. Drivers will find themselves navigating through detours and delays. The Herald-Mail will run this feature regularly on Mondays this summer and into the fall to get motorists ready for the start of the work week. Here is what to anticipate on the roads this week. West Virginia o Beginning at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Poor House Road at Secretariet Lane in Berkeley County will be closed to replace a large box culvert.

Work crews from Charles E. Brake Co. and the City of Hagerstown's Water Department will begin work on final utility tie-ins at the intersection of Church and Jonathan streets starting Monday at 7 a.m., weather permitting, according to a City of Hagerstown press release. Because the project will require extensive excavation work, the intersection of Church and Jonathan streets will be closed to all traffic, according to the release. Motorists approaching the intersection will be forced to detour around the work zone using other city streets.

Repairs to the railroad crossing on Eastern Boulevard north of Security Road are scheduled to begin Aug. 17 and will require detours for four days, Washington County Deputy Director of Public Works Robert Slocum said. Eastern Boulevard will be closed between Security Road and Klick Way from 8 a.m. Aug. 17 through Aug. 20, Slocum said. Northbound traffic will be detoured west on Dual Highway, then north on Burhans Boulevard and Pennsylvania Avenue (U.S. 11), then east on Northern Avenue, which connects with Eastern Boulevard at Leitersburg Pike.

HAGERSTOWN -- Work to replace an uneven CSX railroad crossing near Hagerstown City Park is under way. The work to replace the Virginia Avenue crossing, close to the former Grille at Park Circle restaurant, began at 7 a.m. The railroad company and the City of Hagerstown say the work will take a maximum of four days and require slight detours. Workers will remove existing rails, timbers and railbeds and rebuild the crossing with new materials, the press release says. New bituminous pavement will be applied.

Break in the towpath is the issue To the editor: I have been reading with appreciation the articles promoting the C&O Canal and its towpath. We read there about structures and areas needing attention and the considerable cost of such improvements. Mentioned is the break in the towpath above Dam No. 4 as one concern. However, as chair of the C&O Canal Association committee pushing for restoration of the integrity of the towpath, I want to point out that, for us, that is not one issue among many, but is the Issue.